Veldes has put out no EP or demo since the band’s 2012 inception, so with their first full length, the band has really put its neck on the line-if this sucks, the band is going to be written off for good.

Released on Razed Soul Productions, the record is a well mixed cocktail of old and new, all stirred up with good musicianship from the sole member, Tilen Šimon. There are definite nods to bands of their ilk who all also hail from Slovenia, and influences of some US depressive one-man bands are present too. The vocals are pure old-school 90s style, but the guitars certainly take a more modern and “commercially” melodic side.

Classic Norwegian style moments have their time here, but are certainly less of a dominating influence than on most black metal records heard today. These traditional vibes are certainly twisted by a more technical and progressive edge. The production is pretty clean, and the drums are so shiny you could probably see your own corpse painted face in them, but overall plenty of good old-fashioned reverb helps steer things away from the clinical world of production. A lot of the guitar work is pretty similar, and as someone who is not a fan of that particular washy and slow style of chord playing and tremolo picking, I find it becomes mundane very quickly. I think that use of some less-conventional instruments, and some variation in the vocals would also help ease things along the path of interesting music, rather than leave the listener stuck in a sleepy bog of boredom.

In conclusion, something fresher, or something better would be far more welcome here at Metal-Rules UK. I don’t want to accuse Veldes of bandwagon jumping, but hey, I’ve heard it all before.

Review by Jarod Lawley

Track Listing

1. Through the Bitter Flame
2. Featherless Across the Burnt Skies
3. Earth as a Nest of Bones and Debris
4. Within These Roots Only Sickness Dwells
5. Beneath the Grieving Waters